


visions slowly come to me

by afrocurl



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The OC
Genre: Activism, Canon Compliant, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Gen, POV Female Character, Stakeout
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-09
Updated: 2014-07-09
Packaged: 2018-02-07 02:59:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1882572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afrocurl/pseuds/afrocurl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sterling City had fallen apart and it was the perfect time for Summer to flex her flare for dramatic activism.</p><p>Felicity Smoak tried to put together the shambles of Queen Consolidated after Slade's devastation.</p><p>Two women who have nothing in common find that their lives mingle together in unexpected ways. They really should blame their friends and some of their poor (or normal) choices.</p>
            </blockquote>





	visions slowly come to me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jaegermighty](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaegermighty/gifts).



> This is set sometime in between the final scene and the montage at the end of season four of The OC and after season two of Arrow. Arrow's half will probably be Jossed come the fall.
> 
> I should also say that this crossover is the result of a mutual friend of ours telling me this was a great idea. You can blame her later. ;)

Sterling City was a place where Summer knew she could make a difference. Activism had become her passion and everything that had happened thanks to Queen Consolidated meant there were plenty of rights to wrong and protests to mount.

Headline after headline had said that Oliver Queen was a mess - his mother’s death, the loss of his company and personal fortune - but they failed to say that the man still walked through town as if he had something to prove.

One of her friends from Brown had managed to get her information on where he spent his time, and it was just a matter of organizing people who opposed Queen to strike the perfect protest.

Outside of her time at home - or in Berkeley - she looked nothing like the girl she was in high school. The mani/pedis were gone, and she rather liked ethically made her clothes rather than the designer ones.

Her current outfit - skinny jeans, a long sleeved tee and boots with a light jacket - was inconspicuous for the job. It wasn’t nice enough to scream that she was a businesswoman, but it wasn’t like the many transient people she’d seen through The Glades either.

Really, it was perfect for a stake-out, Veronica Mars style, and that was what she had planned. She was inside a mid-sized sedan, just a few years old, waiting for Queen and his man to emerge from an apartment complex that looked as if it were too low-brow even for a Queen without any money. 

Time was on her side, and after only twenty minutes waiting, the pair walked out of the apartment and got into a car that looked out of Queen’s current income bracket - a newer sleek black sedan. A few minutes later, a blonde woman entered the backseat of the car, and soon they were all driving away. 

Well, there was time now to explore where Queen was hiding out and what secrets he had inside.

*

Felicity sat, impassively, at the desk of what remained of Queen Consolidated, waiting for calls from other businessmen for Oliver’s newly busy schedule. It wasn’t like she had any real desire to be there, but despite the public perception, Oliver still had control of the company without Isabel as CEO now.

The phone rang, as it was doing most of the days now. “Queen Consolidated. How may I help you?”

There was a long pause on the other end of the line before someone spoke. “Hello, I was wondering if there were any public records of the blueprints for The Glades on file here? I’m working on a project - an architecture project - and the public records are a bit difficult to access right now. I know that the Queen’s are big supporters of that part of town and there’s not much information I can get from anyone there.”

Felicity knew this was an understatement. There really wasn’t anyone running the city - despite the deputy mayor being sworn in - and everyone knew it. Just like everyone knew that the town was close to falling apart in a pile of rubble as if another Reckoning were coming.

“Sir,” Felicity started, “I’m afraid many of our records aren’t accessible to me right now; our computer system is still being rebuilt.” That was also an understatement on Felicity’s part. She hadn’t even had time to start getting their system back online, and Oliver didn’t trust anyone else to do it as far as she knew.

“Oh well, would it be possible to get access to the physical copies? It would really help my project,” the man said earnestly, with a pleasant tone that suggested he had had to appease too many people before he had tried it on Felicity.

“It might be possible if you give us a few weeks. I’m sure you know how disastrous Sterling City is right now.”

“I grew up in Orange County, and there was that big earthquake a few years ago. You remember, right? I can relate to how hairied a time this is for you all. My name is Ryan Atwood, by the way,” he said sincerely.

“Well, Mr. Atwood, if you don’t mind waiting a few weeks and giving me your number, we can work something out.”

"That sounds fine, Mrs. I didn't catch your name."

Felicity grinned into the phone. "That's because I didn't give it. It's Smoak."

"Mrs. Smoak. Has a nice ring to it."

"That's weird, since I'm not married to my dad. That would be gross. And I'm not married at all actually. It's Miss. I mean Ms. Oliver - Mr. Queen - says it's more professional - which I'm clearly not." Felicity laughed nervously to stop the rapid flow of nonsense coming out of her mouth. "I'm Felicity. You can call me that."

Ryan chuckled. “Well, then here’s my number, and please call me when everything is ready,” Atwood rattled off his number before the line went dead.

There was a part of her that thought there was a flirtatiousness to his conversation, but she knew all her signals were easily crossed.

*

It was to Summer’s advantage that she wasn’t a student anymore, because what she thought was going to be a simple recon assignment and a quick rally had turned into something else entirely. 

The town of Sterling City - or what was left of it - had no real interest in trying to scream and yell at Queen Consolidated, despite what the city looked like thanks to the company.

So there was nothing to do except follow the man and hope for some slip up that she could exploit. But her time around town had also told her that the town was in such despair that even a huge scandal might not shock the city.

At least she had noted so far that there were two different blonde women in Oliver’s life, one who looked as if she was ready to take on the world and the other who had a quiet strength that reminded Summer of Kirsten. Not going far enough to actually match names to the women, Summer just watched them and Queen and his man. They had to slip up at some point. Or go somewhere that would raise some red flag.

*

Felicity was knee-deep in cables and servers when she felt her phone buzz at her side. It would likely be a text from Diggle or Oliver, but she was _this_ close to getting this bank of servers up, so she let it go.

Fifteen minutes later she was finally done, and when she looked at the phone, it caught her off guard.

It was Oliver, of course. _Dinner and drinks at Verdant? Eight too early?_

Why was he actually asking her out today? She had already said that despite all of his declarations in front of Wilson that she wanted to take things slow. Maybe this was his idea.

She shot off something that was casual, but still conveyed her surprise. _Is it even up to code yet?_

To her surprise, Oliver was quick to reply: _It’s just you, me and Diggle. Well, Diggle in the background._

At that she had to say something quippy, because Diggle was something else. _Why does he put up with you?_ She laughed at the idea of John being a third wheel to this date. It was not worth his time, she was sure, but he was loyal to a fault right now. Especially now.

_Yes, I’ll see you there as soon as I finish this bank of servers. Does this mean I get my salary for being your PA and your IT girl at the same time?_

She put her phone down again, and went to look at another bank of servers that needed to be reconnected. There was still time to sort through this last set of servers before she needed to leave. 

Just as the last set of cables went into place, her cell phone alerted her to an office call. Perfect.

“Hello, Queen Consolidated,” she said, with only a hint of being out of breath.

“Hello, Ms Smoak. This is the Records Department. We’ve gotten everything for that man you told us about.”

“Oh thanks. I’ll let him know right now and have him stop by tomorrow.”

She hung up and then quickly dialed Atwood’s number. It went to voicemail.

“Mr. Atwood, Felicity Smoak from Queen Consolidated. The documents you asked for are ready. You can come in tomorrow morning. If you need anything else, please call this number,” and she rattled off her cell phone number and pushed the memory of his flirting from her mind because she had a date with Oliver tonight. “I have plans tonight in The Glades at a club called Verdant, but call if it’s an emergency.” That felt like an out; she could be flirty with this Ryan guy, even if she had plans with Oliver. It wasn’t as if Oliver had been very good at whatever they were doing together. Competition was healthy, wasn’t it?

She looked at what had happened to her outfit in the mess of the servers and let out a sigh. She’d need to change quickly and then run to get to Verdant on time. 

*

It was now turning into a problem. Summer felt like Taylor right now: stalking prey and waiting for Queen to slip up and expose himself for public ridicule.

Everything was getting to be a bit too much, but she had committed herself to this plan and she would follow it through to the end. 

Tonight, she was standing outside of what looked like a closed down club - that all her research indicated was the case - but that didn’t explain why Queen was meeting here tonight. It especially didn’t explain why the blonde with glasses was parking her own car in front and walking inside.

It also didn’t explain why another car pulled up after that or why the man who walked out looked exactly like her soon-to-be-quasi-brother-in-law.

“Atwood, what the fuck are you doing here?” she yelled as she got out of her car to chase him into the building.

“I’m meeting a woman here to get some plans for the city. You know, still working on architectural projects.” He waved his hands around in a way that said Ryan still saw Seth on a regular basis.

“You’re meeting one of Queen’s blondes?” Summer made a face. She also wondered when Ryan took the time to actually make plans, but stopped herself from saying that aloud; Ryan still had too many secrets.

“I don’t think she’s only one of Queen’s blondes. Her name is Felicity and she works for him.”

“I’m pretty sure she’s also dating him. Doesn’t that tell you that you should get the hell out of here?”

“No, Summer, it really doesn’t. I need information from her I can’t get anywhere else. So right now I’ll put your new cause aside and get my work done. I’m not in a position to take things for granted.”

She wanted to snap back, to yell and to say that she had more than enough reason to be there, but she stopped herself. She wouldn’t let rage take over again; she had righteous anger and social justice on her side.

“You’re making a huge mistake, Atwood,” she yelled just as she watched him walk into the club.

*

The club looked sad, if she was honest. It lacked the spark and the music that made this place a bright spot in The Glades for everyone in Sterling City.

But she wasn’t here to make comments on what Oliver choose to do without Thea around. 

“This looks nice,” she said when Oliver appeared from a dark corner with a tray in his hand, covered with two plates of appetizers. There was a bottle of wine at the table to make it all a bit more romantic.

“I’m trying,” he said, as if that was all that needed to be said. He was probably right; he had a reputation for being less than chivalrous with women before, and this seemed less likely to end up with her drunk and passed out on his bed than anything else.

“Appreciated,” was all she could say before her phone buzzed. “Hold on one sec. Work.”

He nodded and dropped the tray down and walked back towards the old bar for something.

“Hello, Felicity speaking.”

“Felicity, this is Ryan Atwood. I really need to get those plans tonight. Something just came up and I can’t stay in town much longer.”

“Oh, well, right now I’m off-site so it might take a while.”

“That’s fine. I listened to your message and then I may have charmed the receptionist into telling me where Verdant was. I’m trying to find my way to your voice.”

Well, that was pretty sneaky for a guy from Orange County. Huh.

“Okay. Just let me warn a few people and you’ll be fine,” but as soon as the last word left her mouth, she heard a thud and heard Diggle commanding an intruder to stay down. “Too late.”

*

Summer wouldn’t leave Ryan there with the likes of Queen so she stayed. Waited. Sat there and sent emails to people - Seth included.

She didn’t expect anyone to come out twenty minutes after Ryan entered, two guys with their arms around Ryan’s shoulders.

“Is this what you do to regular people here in Sterling City?” she called when the streetlight gave her enough to see Ryan’s face blossoming with a few bruises.

“Only when strangers enter private property,” Queen said. “He’s a friend of yours?”

“Soon to be brother-in-law, or something.” It was too complicated to explain to someone like Queen, she was ure.

“I’m fine, Summer. Just go and I’ll give Felicity my address. I’m not going to walk into Queen Consolidated looking like this tomorrow.”

“You wouldn’t be the first to look like that,” said Queen’s bodyguard.

“Not funny,” was all Summer could say before she walked over to both men and gave them each swift knees to their groins. “That’s what you get. Maybe now you’ll think about what the city looks like in your wake.”

“We do look out for the city,” Queen said through gritted teeth, as the pain from her blow took over.

“Oh, do tell. How?”

“None of your damn business,” the other man said, and then they each dropped Ryan on the ground.

“You owe me Roberts. You owe me.” Ryan’s voice was more strained than it had been when he walked into the club, but there were definite reasons for that.

She thought about it and went to get Ryan off the floor. She probably did owe him. Seth, too. Because technically the wedding was in six weeks. Hopefully his face would clear up before then.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my friends for the support and beta, particularly one friend who made this whole crossover idea possible.
> 
> Title grabbed from a Youth Group song used in The OC.


End file.
